HIGHLIGHTS

People losing confidence in BSP due to defection of its senior leaders.

Agra is currently a political hotspot. All political parties are trying to play their cards right in this division which has become an important political arena for them.

POLITICAL PARTIES KICK OFF THEIR CAMPAIGN

While the BSP began its electoral campaign through party chief Mayawati's rally in Agra, the BJP is also ready to hold a huge rally in Farah, a town barely 30 km away from the divisional headquarters and the hometown of BJP's ideological guru Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay. UP Congress president Raj Babbar was born in Agra and was thrice MP from this division, while the Mulayam Singh Yadav clan is also based in Mainpuri-Etawah zone.

However, following the recent developments in their parties, both the SP and the BSP are losing their hold on this division. While the SP is falling prey to faction-fighting, the BSP is facing rebellion amongst its ranks against the growing dominance of Satish Mishra in the party.

VILLAGE PRADHANS, BLOCK MEMBERS SUPPORTING SAMAJWADI PARTY RESIGN

On Thursday, 55 village pradhans and 65 block members who owed their allegiance to the Samajwadi Party, collectively resigned from their posts against the unceremonious removal of SP General Secretary Ram Gopal Yadav's nephew and MLC Arvind Yadav from the party for alleged anti-party activities. The entire group condemned Arvind's removal and termed it as a dangerous trend for the party.

Block Pramukh Billu Singh from Mainpuri told India Today that the allegations framed against MLC Arvind Yadav are completely baseless and they believed until now that the suspension will be taken back after a period of time. However, this did not happen and the party high command refused to listen to their pleas, forcing them to resign from the party.

BSP PLAGUED WITH DEFECTION OF SENIOR LEADERS

On the other hand, the BSP too suffered a major blow on Thursday, when supremo Mayawati's trusted advisor and former bodyguard Padam Singh, who is a resident of Agra, decided to leave Mayawati's camp and join the BJP, becoming the second senior leader from Agra to leave the party in the past couple of months.

Padam Singh served as the security officer of several chief ministers since 1985 to 2012, but his allegiance always remained towards Mayawati and he was amply rewarded for it, when he got promoted to the rank of Deputy Superintendant of Police. He had recently been in the media glare, when he was seen cleaning Mayawati's shoes in a public meeting. Padam Singh alleged that the party had lost both its aim and its momentum now and has become a puppet in the hands of Satish Mishra.

WHO WILL EMERGE THE WINNER?

Considering how almost every major contender for the UP chief minister's post is falling prey to faction fights, it has become a very difficult task to accurately predict the outcome of the 2017 Assembly elections and the state appears to be heading towards a hung assembly.